Seeing moonbows in the dark at Victoria Falls

Lunar rainbows are a rare phenomenon, and there are very few places in the world where the conditions are just right to see them. Luckily, Victoria Falls is one of them and going out to the Falls at night to catch sight of them is a magical experience.

You need to be here at Full Moon, or a day on either side, to see lunar rainbows because that’s the only time the moonlight is powerful enough. High season is best because there’s more spray, though that means you have to be prepared to get wet. Even then, they’re not as bright as rainbows from the sun, though somehow that only makes them seem more fragile and more extraordinary. 

As I said, it’s a great experience to visit the Falls at night and see moonbows. Because we’re walking in the dark, and there are animals such as warthogs, baboons and monkeys in the rainforest, we take a National Park ranger with us to protect us. So we follow the ranger in single file until we get almost to the end of the Falls, and then we turn around so we have the Full Moon behind us and start our viewing at, appropriately enough, Rainbow Falls. 

As we go slowly back along the path to the entrance, stopping at important places such as the Main Falls, we give you a bit of history, talk about what you can see from the various viewpoints and help clients with taking photographs. But mostly it’s about helping people make the most of their hour or two in the presence of an amazing natural spectacle.